1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plows which are attached to the front end of a vehicle for plowing earth, snow and other such materials and, in particular, to a combination plow and claw assembly which can easily be changed by the operator of the vehicle during use of the assembly to function as a plow when the vehicle is moved in a forward direction or as a backward plow, scraper, rake or other such device when the vehicle is operated in a backward direction.
2. Description of Related Art
Plows are well known in the art for removing snow or moving earth to level or grade the ground and most conventional plows utilize a steel plow or blade mounted on the front of a pick-up truck, bulldozer, tractor, ATV, earthmoving equipment, tracked vehicles or similar vehicle. Such blades (also called moldboards) are typically curved with a concave front surface so that when the vehicle travels in a forward direction, snow or earth is tossed in front and/or to the side of the blade to provide a clean or graded surface. These blades are typically mounted on hydraulic rams which are capable of raising and lowering the blades and maintaining the blade in a selected vertical position as well as angling the blade in a horizontal plane so that the earth, snow or other material may be deposited selectively toward the left side or toward the right side of the vehicle.
The foregoing type of plow has limited usefulness however, since the vehicle must be moved in a forward direction to move the snow, earth, or other material. When such a plow is moved in a backward direction the efficiency of the blade decreases. For convenience, the following description will be directed to the use of a plow for moving earth but it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the plow of the invention may be used for other material moving operations such as snow removal, in grain silos, spreading of gravel, in sewage tanks where the assembly may be mounted on a device other than a vehicle, the preparation of a surface before pouring concrete on the surface such as the spreading of plastic (Styrofoam) granules on the surface, and the like. The term “plow” will be used herein to mean a device which is attached to the front of a vehicle and the vehicle is moved forward to move the earth. The term “claw” will be used herein to mean a device which is attached to the front of a vehicle and the vehicle is moved backward to scrape or pull the earth and/or to rake or till the earth.
In earth moving operations it is often necessary to not only move the earth on a site in a forward direction to remove the earth or grade the ground, but also to smooth the ground to provide a level, smooth surface. Many earth-moving operations also require in addition the raking or tilling of the soil for seeding such as the planting of grass. As can be appreciated, a complete job of moving earth and then preparing the ground for a finishing operation such as seeding requires a number of different steps and operations and typically a number of different type equipment such as plows, backhoes, claws, rakes and the like are needed to perform each step. The need for multiple devices is costly and it is time consuming to change the device on the vehicle for each different operation.
Devices have been developed for use on both the front and the back of a vehicle to provide a clawing (e.g. scraping or leveling) function but, for back attached devices, the vehicle must still be operated in a forward direction which makes it difficult for the operator to see what is happening and to control the clawing function of the device. A plow may also be used in a forward direction to perform all the above functions, but this does not provide a satisfactory grading of the ground and the ground would still have to be further worked to smooth and level the ground and to rake the ground. It will also be appreciated that the vehicle using a conventional plow would require a large amount of maneuvering to properly position the plow for each of the different plowing operations.
Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a combination plow and claw assembly which is attached to a vehicle for plowing a surface and for clawing a surface which assembly can easily be changed to the desired plow or claw function by the operator of the vehicle during operation of the vehicle and which does not interfere with the visibility of the operator.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a conventional plow which has been modified so that the plow assembly can function as both a plow for plowing and/or a claw for clawing a surface, which plow assembly can easily be changed to the desired function by the operator of the vehicle during operation of the vehicle.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a combination plow and claw assembly for plowing a surface and for clawing a surface wherein the claw has tines so that a raking function is effected and which combination plow and claw assembly can be easily changed to the desired function by the operator of the vehicle during operation of the vehicle. The claw may also have retractable and extendable tines to further enhance the effectiveness of the assembly.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.